Sunday, October 31, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Bee math
I am teaching a general biology course right now, and one of my students asked about why he sees so many dead bees on campus. Is this because of colony collapse disorder (CCD)? Or all the radiation from cell phones or the hospital?
Good question! And I really don't know the answer. I don't think our hives have been suffering from CCD or are dying more than average. Here is what I came up with, making a few assumptions and using a few facts about honey bee biology:
There are about 50 hives tucked into the corner of campus and in the summer each hive probably contains about 50,000 bees.
That is about 2.5 million bees! Since bees are working so hard in the summer, they have an average life-span of only about 6 weeks.
So if 2.5 million bees are dying every six weeks, that means 59,523 die every day, 2,480 die every hour, or a bee flies off to bee heaven once every 1.5 seconds.
I think the most likely explanation for the dead bees he's observed on campus is that there is a larger than average bee population here and thus more dead bees around.
What do you think?
Good question! And I really don't know the answer. I don't think our hives have been suffering from CCD or are dying more than average. Here is what I came up with, making a few assumptions and using a few facts about honey bee biology:
There are about 50 hives tucked into the corner of campus and in the summer each hive probably contains about 50,000 bees.
That is about 2.5 million bees! Since bees are working so hard in the summer, they have an average life-span of only about 6 weeks.
So if 2.5 million bees are dying every six weeks, that means 59,523 die every day, 2,480 die every hour, or a bee flies off to bee heaven once every 1.5 seconds.
I think the most likely explanation for the dead bees he's observed on campus is that there is a larger than average bee population here and thus more dead bees around.
What do you think?
Monday, October 18, 2010
Results
Powdered sugar is great. For donuts. Not so much for bees.
After a month of diligently dusting the bees every 3-4 days, I was finally able to measure the mite loads on Friday.
The results are not good: 100 per day for Droogie 1, 60 per day for Droogie 2. This huge increase in mites from the numbers that I counted in September is despite having fewer bees in each hive.
Here is a close-up picture of the sticky board that I put under the hive to do the mite count. I've put an arrow by several of the mites; many more are not marked.
This makes me sad. I haven't decided if I'll treat the bees or not- there is a small chance that they will survive the winter if I do nothing. But I'll probably order some formic acid pads and see if I can save them.
After a month of diligently dusting the bees every 3-4 days, I was finally able to measure the mite loads on Friday.
The results are not good: 100 per day for Droogie 1, 60 per day for Droogie 2. This huge increase in mites from the numbers that I counted in September is despite having fewer bees in each hive.
Here is a close-up picture of the sticky board that I put under the hive to do the mite count. I've put an arrow by several of the mites; many more are not marked.
This makes me sad. I haven't decided if I'll treat the bees or not- there is a small chance that they will survive the winter if I do nothing. But I'll probably order some formic acid pads and see if I can save them.
Friday, October 1, 2010
French bees
This is a great photo of the beehives in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris sent to me by a colleague. Apparently, the beehives have been at this site since 1856.
I wonder if French bees get more holiday than their American counterparts. Do they go on strike? Does the honey taste better because it is French?
They certainly have better hive covers.
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